This new route was introduced since 21st November 2011 as part of the collaboration between Firefly and Melaka Air Sdn Bhd, a Malacca state-government entity. In a nutshell, Melaka Air sees the opportunity of Melaka-Medan-Melaka route and since they chose to collaborate with Firefly, the ATR need to travel between Subang to Malacca v.v to serve the Medan route completing the route as SZB-Malacca-Medan-Malacca-SZB.

As an aviation fan, it was music to my ears when they announced that they will be selling the seats from Subang to Malaka and back. I see it as an opportunity to fly a route that is quite rare due to the close distance between the 2 airports and a good highway infra. I posted the question on Facebook and here are some responses that I received.

This route is being served twice a week, Monday and Friday. On 12th Dec 2011, a public holiday for Selangor, I walked into Subang SkyPark for my Subang-Malacca-Subang daytrip adventure. A quick glance on the flight information screen, I noticed that there was no indication of a Malacca flight, I got a bit nervous thinking that the flight might got cancelled on a last-minute notice. With a bit of doubt, I walked to the check-in counter.

I was greeted by a friendly check-in officer. The moment I said “Malacca”, the check in agent just smiled and said “You must be En Azuan”. I was quite surprised only to find out that the flight to Malacca has only 2 passengers and the other passenger has checked in.

Check-In Agent: There are only 2 passengers for the flight, you are very lucky!
Me: Wow, this is a pleasant surprise, it would be even cooler if I’m the only one though.
Check-In Agent: Well I have chcekd in for you both ways and good news is that for Malacca-Subang, you will be the only passenger!
Me: Double wow (“senyum sampai ke telinga” haha )

My ‘lucky day’ boarding passes.

9M-FYJ being assigned for the route today.

Passengers boarding for flight to Alor Setar at the same time as our departure time. It was funny to have a boarding announcement made for our flight with 2 passengers. Even before the announcement can be finished we were already on our way walking to the plane.

Me and the other passenger were greeted with “Hello gentlemen, please choose any of the seats”. Nice!

2 pilots, 2 flight attendants and 2 passengers. Awesome feeling. I chose to be at 18C, and chit chat with the friendly crew throughout the flight.

We left ahead of the Alor Setar bound flight.

Clear skies, a great day to fly.

The crew were at their stations for take-off and landing despite the almost empty cabin. Safety is a serious business! Well done Firefly.

We were cleared to fly above Putrajaya, this flight turns out to be quite a scenic flight. (sorry for the zoom-crop photo).

FSS Roshini and FSS Vanessa kept offering hot drinks, juices, muffins and peanuts but I have to politely decline as I was saving it for Malacca food

After 25 minutes, we were all set to land in Malacca.

Spotted this submarine museum, one of many tourist attractions in Malacca.

Final Approach

Welcome to Malacca Airport! See you FYJ in 4 hours.

The “VIP”

I had a fun time touring Malacca in 4 hours (will share it in my next blog post) before returning to the airport for my flight home.

It’s cool to have 2 check-in counters for me. They greeted me with “Welcome back En Azuan, your private ATR’ will be ready shortly.”

Making full use of the timer shutter on my camera. I was really alone after clearing security.

Time to fly

FYJ after serving the Medan sector.

I went inside the cabin, greeted the two stewardess and they cutely said “Ready to go?”. I just nodded and the door was closed.

We left Malacca airport earlier than our scheduled time by a few minutes. I took some of this photos. After more than 100 flights with Firefly this is the first time that I got to snap photos freely inside the cabin during flight. Haha

I decided to put my camera away and just hang out with the lovely cabin crew throughout the flight.

The plane arrived in Subang ahead of schedule and after personally thanked the pilots and the cabin crew, I left with lots of good memories of being THE ONLY PERSON IN A 72-SEATER ATR! A flight to remember

Head on to http://fireflyz.com.my to book your flight to Melaka. There is no way to guarantee that you will get an empty cabin but it’s definitely a cooler way to travel to Melaka. I really hope the route will sustain and looking at the almost full Melaka-Medan-Melaka route on that day, I’m quite confident that the arrangement will last for quite some time.

With the start of the school holidays and hopefully with some good weather upon us, now is the time to explore various holiday destinations nationwide. One tip that I can suggest is to avoid those famous and crowded theme parks, hotels and islands and explore newer and less-touristy places.

Allow me to introduce one of those places, the Bukit Gambang Resort City!

Bukit Gambang Resort City is an integrated resort city with its multi-dimensional tourist attractions and reasonably priced resort accommodation. In layman term it is one of those places that you can spend a couple of days having good time with your loved ones without even leaving the resort city. Besides accommodation, Bukit Gambang Resort City is home to one of the largest and coolest water theme park in the east coast and a wide range of recreational and relaxation facilities.

I was introduced to Bukit Gambang Resort City during the recent familiarization trip to Kuantan and this post is my honest and independent review of the resort city.

Let’s start with the accommodation. Caribbean Bay Suites is made up of over 578 apartment units, consisting of 140 Studio Suites, 420 Family Suites and 18 Deluxe Suites. I stayed in a family suite which can easily cater up to 4 people comfortably.

The good thing about Caribbean Bay Suites is that they do not enforce limitation in terms of pax per room. A good news for family with kids!

For couples or single traveller, the Studio Suite is the best option that provides ample space and a more vibrant interior.

Of course if you are celebrating a special occasion like anniversary or birthday, why not pamper yourself with the luxury deluxe suit that is super cool!

Like any other resorts or hotels, swimming pool is a must especially if it’s a family vacation!

On second thought, actually you don’t even need to have a swimming pool as the largest water theme park in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia is just 3 minutes away with the free tram ride!

The Bukit Gambang Water Park!

The main attraction in my opinion is the Coco Beach. It’s the largest wave pool in Malaysia and the ‘beach’ is so real and clean that at some point I felt that it’s better than the real beach!

It was Friday afternoon and the crowd level was quite acceptable and there were still ample facilities like these picnic tables available to the visitors.

One for the album!

I love to chill at the beach and just relax but if that is not your thing, there are other more exciting ride and slides!

Adrenaline rush.

Satisfied customers I believe

Another star attraction of Bukit Gambang Water Park is the Tree Top Hill Slides which is a 6 Lane Racer Slide – the longest in Malaysia.

While speed and adrenaline rush are the main ’dishes’ of the park, there are actually something for everyone. For those less-adventurous, kids pool at Penguin Island is quite fun.

Many visitors visit the Water Theme Park on a daytrip but I would strongly suggest for you to stay at least a night in the resort city as there are other attractions to explore.
One of it being the Active Academy.

Jungle trekking, Paintball, ATV Fun ride Flying Fox and many more are available for both normal visitors and corporate functions.

For kids, the Jungle Farm is available but in my opinion is a bit too small. Maybe it has not been fully developed at the time of my visit.

In the evening, the resort comes alive with a mini-funfair with some wacky rides!

Adrenaline rush all the way.

Just one little tip, have your dinner way before you take the ride

Pool tables, karaoke lounge, arcades and k-box are also available at an affordable rate.

I ended the tour of Bukit Gambang Resort City at the Karaoke lounge singing my own version of “Kau Bernama Seri” by Handyblack.

I was badly off-tuned but nobody really cares as everyone was in holiday mood, must be the charm of Bukit Gambang Resort City.

“Leisure at its Best”

Fancy for a trip to Kuantan or any other places in Malaysia but not sure where to stay? Check out AGODA’s website (click the banner below) for a one-stop comparison of all hotels from budget to 5-star. I am personally an AGODA fan and have saved a lot on my accommodation cost for my travels.

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Links

Bukit Gambang Resort City – http://www.bgrc.com.my

Firefly Airlines fly to Kuantan from Penang, Subang and Singapore – Head on to http://www.fireflyz.com.my for more details.

Although the flight was part of a sponsored media/partners familiarization trip, my review will remain strictly based on my personal views.

Back in 2009, Firefly was doing well with this route but has to stop the service due to aircraft re-deployment to other more profitable routes. Now that Firefly has received additional ATR72-500 aircrafts, the Subang-Kuantan route is back. The airline is so positive about the route that they are starting with twice daily services effective 30th October 2011.

I was booked on FY2120 on Friday 11.11.11. Flying has always been the best excuse to push myself to wake up very early in the morning and with lots of excitement, I was at the airport as early as 6:20am.

Check in was smooth and I managed to get my boarding pass and my luggage tagged in less than 4 minutes. It was a nice touch by the check-in staff to say “Have a nice flight, En Azuan” when she passed me my boarding pass. Small things that make a difference.

It’s also interesting to note that Firefly has introduced Web Check-in where passengers can check-in from home/office and just drop their bags at the dedicated counter. They have also introduced a more efficient queuing system with common check-ins instead of dedicated counters by destinations.

Despite the heavy morning rain, flights were departing as per scheduled and At 7:28am, the boarding process for our 7:40am flight begins.

Umbrellas were provided to all passengers for our short walk to the plane.

Our ride for the day 9M-FYH.

I was greeted by the leading stewardess, Miss Amira at the aircraft door and was later ushered by a more junior crew to my seat in 7F.

As I was one of the last passengers to board the flight, I noticed that the load was quite light with about 50% passenger-on-board.

It’s funny that despite a few empty rows at the front part of the plane, I was assigned a seat next to another passenger. One way to improve is for Firefly to assign the seats to maximise comfort based on flight load allowing as much space as possible between passengers.

Take off was 2 minutes ahead of schedule. Heavy rain and thick clouds = bumpy take-off.

In-flight service started a bit late due to weather and with the seat belt sign switched on during most of the flight duration, I decided to cancel my earlier plan to chat and take photos of the cabin crew in action as part of this review.

Muffins / Peanuts and mango / guavajuice were served to all passengers immediately after the seat belt sign was off.

Malaysian Hospitality at its best! I took this photo below while Flight Stewardess Amira was serving the juice.

She was smiling and interacting with some of the passengers and you can actually tell a difference that she’s doing it sincerely rather than following an SOP written on the manual. Thumbs up for that!

There was no in-flight briefing given by the Captain or Co-pilot perhaps due to the weather keeping them busy but I personally believe that during bad weather, words from the flight deck are always good to hear.

While most of the passengers took a short nap, I flipped through the reading materials provided in the seat pocket. We can now say good-bye to Kunang-Kunang Magazine. At least Going Places has been used as a replacement which makes sense if you look at the angle of cost savings for the company and MAS Group.

We landed in Kuantan 2 minutes earlier than our scheduled time.

Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport. A great small airport.

Thank You 9M-FYH.

My bag arrived 2 minutes after I entered the arrival hall.

The high quality service of Firefly Airlines has been quite consistent that despite after flying so many times with different planes and crew members I can enjoy the same ‘smooth and relaxing’ experience. Its value for money positioning together with this experience reaffirms my choice of Firefly as my favourite airline.

Pros:
a) Consistent in-flight service
b) Great ‘human-touch’ at Check-In Counter and in-flight

Cons:
a) Seat allocation was random; flights were half empty but strangers being assigned to sit with each other
b) No in-flight briefing by the pilots

Next up: AzuanZahdi Explores Kuantan, Pekan and Sg Lembing! All here @ AzuanZahdi.com

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“You are flying to Mukah just for the sake of being on the Twin Otter plane?”

That was the exact question that was asked to me by a fellow passenger of flight MH3411 from Kuching to Mukah. As much as it sounds like a crazy idea, it is the absolute truth. I flew all the way to Kuching, stayed a night in the city and flew to Mukah and back to Kuching on the same day just for the sake of flying on the Twin Otter!

Yes, it’s true.

As a self-acclaimed aviation enthusiast, I always have the desire to fly on different kind of planes. For many years, I have travelled on different kind of planes mainly on the Boeing 737, 747,777 (MAS), ATR72 (Firefly) and A320 (Air Asia). It is exciting but after a while I want something different. Knowing that MAS might in the future phase out its older Twin Otter from the Rural Air Services in Sabah and Sarawak, I knew that I had to act fast to be on one of the flights.

After postponing a few times, I finally managed to get time off from work that matches great deal from Firefly (to fly me from KL to Kuching) and MASwings (for the Twin Otter flight Kuching – Mukah – Kuching). MASwings website is quite user-friendly and within minutes I managed to purchase the tickets for my Twin Otter adventure. The funny thing is that I can choose my seat when i purchase the ticket while in reality twin otter flights are all free-seating!

After a few weeks of waiting, it’s finally the DAY! After putting a night in Kuching, I was super excited to be at the airport an hour before the flight. MASWings has implemented self-service check-ins for all its flights. However for Rural Air Services, passengers still have to line-up at the bag-drop counter for a normal check-in.

I was asked to stand on top of the baggage conveyor for my weight to be calculated. A standard operating procedure for Twin Otter flights for load and balance purposes but for those that do not know would probably think that I was crazy to be standing together with the check-in bags!

Boarding pass!

For the flight from Kuching to Mukah, there was only 12 passengers out of the possible 19. I was the first one to be at Gate “R” in Kuching International Airport.

The Twin Otter assigned for the flight 9M-MDM arrived in Kuching on-time after doing the Tanjung Manis morning flight allowing for our flight to be as per scheduled. Any delay to the Kuching – Mukah or Mukah-Kuching flight could spell disaster to me as I had a return flight to KL on the same day!

Boarding was done in the simplest manner. The ground crew just mentioned the word “Mukah” and all 12 passengers showed the boarding pass and walked towards the plane.

As expected, it was love at a first sight. I just love this DeHavilland Twin Otter (DHC-6) beast! 9M-MDM.

The Twin Otter is an old aircraft. It may not be as sexy as modern airliners, but it has its own charm. A quick Google on this plane and you’ll know that the Twin Otter aircraft is being used in the most challenging terrains in the world. Do not be fooled by its run down interior, this baby has a rugged design that ensures many years of reliable service.

The left-engine.

The seat.

We took off on time. A short take-off run on the runway and within seconds we were already steadily climbing to the altitude of about 10,000 feet.

Great view despite the cloudy weather.

While other passengers started to take a nap, I could not stop clicking my cameras. I was really a ‘jakun’ traveller that wanted to capture every single detail.

The pilots at work.

Being seated in 1A allowed me to take a peek at the cockpit (doors was not closed throughout the flight). The Garmin GPS gave me an indication on the distance to Mukah. (Thank you Microsoft Flight Simulator!) hahaha

The overhead panel

The loadsheet.

Back to the cabin. The safety card and air sickness bag.

The cabin fan.

Fantastic view.

We landed in Mukah on-time and within 2 minutes of touching down, all passengers were already disembarked

The ground agents at Mukah transferring the check-in luggage.

Mukah STOLport.

I spent 5 hours in Mukah (blog post about Mukah will be shared separately). After the fun time in Mukah, it was time to fly back to Kuching.

A closer look at the Mukah STOLport. STOL = Short-Take-Off-and-Landing. See the weighing machine? Both passengers and bags have to go on top of it.  Also the classic baggage collection.

Where else can you snap a photo of an airport that has the plane, the terminal, the passengers and few cars in one shot?

Old-school café.

A quick goodbye to a fellow airport staff before I left for Kuching.

The flight back to Kuching was full load as the earlier flights got cancelled due to AOG. Weather was excellent as the rain just stopped.

9M-MDK has a newer cabin with better seats and no more old-school fan.

Beautiful blue-sky as we left Mukah.

The pilots decided to shut the door.

Back in Kuching.

One for the album!

Alhamdulillah, with the completion of the flight, I had achieve my 2011 aviation resolution to try the Rural Air Service in particular the Twin Otter flight. While Mukah might not be the best STOLport destination in terms of tourism, it has the longest Twin Otter routes. The 2 hours in the plane (1 hour each way) gave me the satisfaction that I was lookingfor I am glad that I made the trip and I now have travelled on every single type of planes operated by MAS, Air Asia and Firefly!

What’s next? Perhaps the MAS A380 inaugural flight? I really hope so!

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Priority Pass is the world’s largest independent airport lounge access program that has been around for 19 years! Basically a member of Priority Pass pays a single yearly fee and gets unlimited access to the lounges. In Malaysia, Priority Pass members get full access to the Plaza Premium Lounge at KLIA’s Satellite Building, LCCT and Senai International Airport, JB.

On my recent trip to Johor Bharu, I had another chance to use my Priority Pass card to access the Plaza Premium Lounge.

I love this little lounge in JB as it is very quiet with not many visitors. Out of about 20 trips that I’ve made to this Plaza Premium lounge, the most number of visitors at one time that I’ve seen is only around 10. This time I was even lucky to have the lounge all to myself!

Nice comfy sofas with choice of TV programmes from sports to news to movies.

Partitions between seats allow different group of guests to have conversations and discussions in private.

The food is nothing to shout about but it’s all free inclusive of beverages.

Local touch.

There is a shower facility that offers day-trippers a chance to freshen up before flying back. Towels are provided for free.

For anyone needing internet access, 4 PC terminals are available with stable and fast internet connection.

Ohh my favourite spot is always this massage chair!

Calm and quiet.

While I was enjoying the food and the massage chair, I was approached by the friendly lounge staff, “Encik Azuan, your Firefly flight is ready for boarding” – till next time!

I had my first Laser Tag experience few months back in Mid Valley (click here to read) and I find that Laser Tag is an interesting and affordable healthy activity to take up as an exercise. Not only it is fun, it also burn calories so in a way it’s a 2-in-1 kind of activity. The only setback was the distance between the lase r tag arena in Mid Valley from Shah Alam making it difficult to go on weeknights.
Distance and lack of arena are no longer an issue starting May 2011 as a new company and a new arena are now up and running in iCity Shah Alam, a very short 5 minute drive from my house! Introducing the brand new Laser Warzone: The Ultimate Lasertag Challenge.

After one of blog readers alerted about this new place, I went to check it out with my usual laser tag buddies. Located at the majestic i-City MSC Shah Alam , the arena provides another form of entertainment to the technology centre. iCity is now more than just LED lights!

The exact address is Unit K-14-1, Jalan Multimedia 7/AH,Citypark, I-City Shah Alam and do look for this huge LED Xmas Tree look-alike as a landmark.

About 50 metres away, the Laser Warzone!

Laser Warzone was born from the collective brainchild of several veteran Laser Tag marshal and owners. These people are not new and they know the game well so visitors can expect quality gameplay and professional marshals for new and seasoned visitors.

Pricing is as competitive as the one in Mid Valley and to me it’s a bit cheaper as it’s near to my house! Interesting to note that they have special price for students, a nice strategy knowing that Shah Alam has a HUGE population of students!

For members, not only they are given special rate but also this ‘dog tag’ with a chip in it to track scores of each game.

At the time of our visit, the function area was still not 100% ready but there are plenty of space for functions like birthday, corporate events and team building.

Visitors can also chill out looking at the CCTV showing all the action inside the arena.

It was then time for us to suit up and check out the arena and the gameplay.

But first, the briefing!

All set, free for all gameplay!

I like the arena setup, it’s wide with plenty of corners and obstacles to take cover. It’s single level making it very fair as that creates a lower probability of a sniper hiding at higher floor!
We had 2 rounds of game before I went in to the arena to join another group and take these photos.

Mr Eliminator aka me! Hehehe

Exchanged cards, paid for our games, presented the manager with AzuanZahdi.com’s keychain as a thank you gift and we left the area satisfied with Laser Warzone!

Together with my buddies, I am planning to organize a get together over few rounds of laser tag games with friends and readers of AzuanZahdi.com. Please leave a comment if you’re interested and I’ll be in touch with you!

Also check out http://www.laserwarzone.com

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A week before the event, Malaysia Airlines Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer YM Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil Zahruddin had a twitter contest on his personal twitter account where the first 10 followers who responded to his tweet get a seat each on the launch flight/joyride.

I tried my luck and alhamdulillah, I was one of the first 10 to tweet back and ended up getting a seat on the flight!

Taking a day off from work, I was excited to be at the airport as early as 8am. Despite the event starting at early in the morning, most of the invitees consist of media representatives, bloggers, contest winners, guests and staff were already there when I arrived.

Check-in was smooth and flight number MH8888 was chosen for this flight.

The unique boarding pass that is now safely kept in my personal ‘aviation corner’ in my room.

The celebrity of the day 9M-MTA. The brand new A330 and the first MAS A330 to carry the new livery.

The guests anxiously waiting for the VIPs at Gate B2.

I had fun meeting some of the guests including few famous bloggers and aviation geeks. Also part of the invitees was Johan Farid Khairuddin or better known as JFK who I had flown with few weeks back (click here to read).

The VIPs for the flight led by Minister of Transport, Y.B. Dato’ Seri Kong Cho Ha.

Boarding process began shortly after the VIP delegation arrived. Like a little boy on his first flight, I was among the first few to be on the plane. Excited to the max!

The first impression. Love at the first sight.

I personally prefer this ‘shades of red’ colour theme on economy seats compared to the colourful ‘smarties’ seats that MAS is currently using for their 737-400 and A330.

I was seated at 39G which is the last few rows of the plane.

Boarding process took longer than usual as everyone was just excited to take photos and checking out the new plane.

While waiting, I spent some time at the aircraft galley/kitchen. The laminated floor looks nice and also gives additional grip to the crew while working at the galley.

The new A330 has wheelchair friendly facilities including this wide lavatory located in the middle of the economy cabin. Kudos to MAS!

One cool part of the flight that I did not managed to catch on camera, was when the usual welcoming announcement was made by Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil himself!

At one I point I actually asked the question, is he a trained cabin crew as he sounded very natural with the script!

Tengku Azmil seen here chatting with JFK before the start of the flight. For record, red tie looks nicer! haha

The plane finally left KLIA 30 minutes behind scheduled departure time. Not that anyone is complaining!

A quick review on the economy class seats. The Economy Class cabin, features lightweight and slim design seats with four-way headrest.

Each seat is equipped with individual audio-video on demand smart screens. The screen size is comparable to those foreign airlines that I’ve flown with and definitely bigger than those currently in MAS’s wide-body fleet.

I love the USB port feature. Passengers can now browse and view their files saved on a USB drive through this feature. The controller has a full QWERTY keyboard for seat message, emails and SMS.

The latest movies, TV programs, moving map and games are available for both cabins.

We flew for 30 minutes reaching as far as Malacca before flying back to Port Klang, PD and back to KLIA.

Another cool feature of the plane is the little mirror located in the overhead compartment. Since the compartment is a bit high, this mirror helps to identify if there are any items left in the compartment. Innovative!

Multi-skilled crew.

We arrived at MAS Hangar 5 for the launching ceremony and was greeted by two AFRS trucks performing a water cannon salute.

Welcome!

View from top.

Catching up with the two friendly captains.

After the official ceremony was completed, I had the chance to visit the plane once again. The main target is of course none other than the cockpit!

And also the business class seats. The new A330-300 Business Class cabin offers comfortable angled lie flat seats, a fold-out privacy divider and six-way adjustable headrest, among others, presenting the traveller with both a mini office, as well as a place to unwind.

Not the best when it’s being compared to other business class seats in the industry but it’s an improvement nonetheless. I love the huge screens!

No AzuanZahdi.com trip report is complete without a photo with the crew. Thanks to the Malaysia Hospitality crew for the world-class service on-board and answering lots of questions from me.

A special shoutout to Tengku DAto Sri Tengku Azmil and his team for the hospitality shown. I sincerely hope that the new fleet will indeed bring MAS to the top!

Another milestone in my aviation blogging journey

I’ll be blogging in few blog posts which I shall start with the flight to Kuching itself followed by interesting places and of course food in Kuching!

FY602 is the earliest flight of Firefly’s daily service to Kuching from KLIA. I always love taking the first flight to enjoy extra time at the destination without spending extra days on accommodation.

Happy face despite having to wake up as early as 4:30am to get to the airport by 6am!

Another plus point of being on a first flight, higher chance of it being on-time!

On the last Firefly flights that we took to KK, we had front row seats on both ways enjoying the extra leg-room. This time we took Row 33, the last row of the Boring 737-800.

Not the best choice though as the seats cannot be reclined and it’s too near to the toilet! Good thing is that, we got the whole 6 seats to ourselves.

View from my seat as passenger board the plane.

I love this view!

The galley with three airlines logo. MAS, Firefly and XL!

The pre-ordered food!

The aircraft was push-backed on time and departed on runway 32R.

Food was served right after seat-belt signs were switched off. Very fast service and much better that the inaugural flight that I took to KK! Well done.

After drafting some work related e-mails on my iPad (airplane mode), I enjoyed my breakfast, the Chicken Rice!

Here’s my current rank of favorites for Firefly meals

1) Chicken Rice
2) Nasi Lemak
3) Nasi Goreng
4) Nasi Briyani

Pretty much a routine flight. Weather was fair and Kunang-kunang kept my other half entertained throughout the flight.

Descending towards Kuching Intl Airport.

On final.

Touchdown!

Taxiing in front of the Air Asia A320 involved in the incident a month earlier.

This bird is on my “to do” list. The classic Twin Otter!

Family photo. 3 Airlines 1 Big Family.

Welcome to Kuching!

Thank you 9M-FYB

Bags and other cargo being off-loaded.

Safely in Kuching, next on the list are my blog posts on Kuching sights and food! stay tuned

The concept of Fly2Ipoh is quite new in Malaysia. It is actually a travel agent company (Infinity Travel services) running scheduled charter flights between these three major cities (Ipoh, JB, Subang) using the modern aircraft of ATR72 operate by Berjaya Airlines. The unique thing about Fly2Ipoh is that despite being a charter flight service, it is open for anyone. Customers can log-on to their website Fly2Ipoh.com and buy tickets just like any other airlines! You are not tied up to any travel packages as per other usual charter flights and it’s point to point so it is actually just like flying with a normal airlines available out there.

Tempted by its one way RM29.90 promo from Subang to Ipoh, I decided to try out Fly2Ipoh yesterday (13th March). It’s only the third day of Fly2Ipoh operations so I was excited to try out this new kid on the block!

Bookings were made online and payment was handled through a secured 3rd party credit card services. Within minutes my itinerary was delivered to my e-mail and I was charged RM119.60 for 2 passengers flying Subang-Ipoh-Subang.

All set for a 30-minutes flight to Ipoh, 3 hours in Ipoh then a return flight back to Subang. The ‘crazy things’ that I do in the name of aviation blogger hehe

I arrived at Subang SkyPark an hour earlier than the scheduled flight time. Fly2Ipoh brand cannot be seen anywhere in the airport, not even on the flight information screen so I went straight to the check-in counters.

I was relieved to see Check-in Counter 1 dedicated for Charter Flight to Ipoh. Why no “Fly2Ipoh” brand?

Errr… “Chater” or “Charter”?

Being used to fast check-in process on other airlines, my wife and I were a bit annoyed by the long waiting time. I later found out that it was due to everything being processed manually and the Berjaya Air ground crew were struggling to register one-by-one the passengers on a 100% full flight! Although it was all operated by Berjaya Air, I think it would be nice if representatives from Fly2Ipoh were there to help expedite the process.

Hand-written Boarding Pass.

Due to the full-load of passenger and slow check-in process, the flight was delayed by 30-minutes. I was not that worried knowing that my return flight a few hours later will also be affected as the same aircraft operates Subang-Ipoh-JB-Ipoh-Subang so there is no way of me missing my return flight.

My other half killing time with Facebook as a large tour group walked passed us to board the plane. Now everyone can fly to Ipoh from Subang! Hehe

Boarding was 30-minutes behind scheduled departure time. The ATR72 of Berjaya Air operating the four sectors on behalf of Fly2Ipoh. 9M-TAG

My favourite shot.

I can finally tick “Fly with Berjaya Air” off my aviation to do-list!

The interior was surprisingly more elegant looking. No ‘leather’ seats like Firefly but in my opinion the seats on Berjaya are more Malaysia Airlines standard and have a more premium feel.

Announcement were made in English and 2 attractive female cabin crews from Berjaya Ai, Shima and Ziana were on duty.

Seat pocket items.

A short take-off roll on RWY33 and the moment the aircraft rotates, a lot of oooohhsss and ahhhhs can be heard. A lot of first-time fliers that took the opportunity of the promo fare. Well done Fly2Ipoh!

“Refreshments” that was announced after boarding turned out to be a bottled drinking water! Well at least it’s free!

Nice day for flying.

Approaching Ipoh.

A rather firm landing and welcome to Ipoh!

A casual airport where photography on the tarmac is still possible.

Upon arriving we rented a taxi for our 2.5 hours food tour of Ipoh which I will covered in my next post.

Our flight back to Subang right after that was similar to the earlier flight except for its lighter load and bumpier weather.

Despite being sceptical initially, I now believe that Fly2Ipoh is here to stay and compete! Judging on the good load despite being only 3-days old, there is a niche demand that the service will continue to fulfil. At the end of the day, competition will translate into better options and lower prices for the consumers! The linkage with Berjaya Air is another ingredient of the Fly2Ipoh recipe as it promises passenger a safe and comfortable flight. I wish Fly2Ipoh a prosperous future!

Check Out www.fly2ipoh.com

So what on earth is laser tag?

Wikipedia defines it this way: Laser tag is a team or individual activity where players attempt to score points by tagging targets, typically with a hand-held infrared-emitting targeting device. Infrared-sensitive targets are commonly worn by each player and are sometimes integrated within the arena in which the game is played. … laser tag has evolved into both indoor and outdoor styles of play, and may include simulations of combat, role play-style games, or competitive sporting events including tactical configurations and precise game goals.

I prefer to define laser tag as Paintball without the pain. If you love paintball, you would love laser tag better as it doesn’t involve physical contact and running making it suitable for both male and female! This game was also made famous through the famous “How I Met Your Mother” tv show:

Picture from fanpop.com

Last weekend I was invited to try out Galactic Laser with a group of bloggers and friends. Unlike some high-profile blogging events, this is an unofficial event organised by my friend who thought that Galactic Laser could use some good publicity. Despite being a low-profile event, we were offered VVIP treatment by the people behind Galactic Laser.

We were ushered to a special function room. Besides the playing arena, customers can organise birthday parties, family gatherings, company retreats at Galactic Laser as it offers not only the laser tag game, but also karaoke facilities, function rooms and good food. The spaceship theme can be seen not only in the playing arena but also throughout the venue.

Joining us was the famous blogger behind Beautiful Nara and friends.

Friends from Utusan Malaysia

The key people behind Galactic Laser explaining the fast, furious and fun aspects of the game

It was then time to report for some laser action!

For those with membership cards, you can earn extra discounts on every game and each game score will be recorded in the database as you move up the ranks.

Upon registration, each player would be given a number that represent your game session. Despite the big crowd, the queue system is unique that it would give each group a rest session to ensure you are not too tired playing consecutive sessions.

After our number is being called and before the action begins, Galactic Laser crew provided a detailed game briefing to explain the game mechanics.

There are different game modes namely free-for-all, team based on different colours, flag game, space marine, etc.

Different game modes would provide different rush but i can ensure that it’s all FUN!

After briefing, it’s suit up time. This ‘game pack’ is the secret behind the game with the ‘gun’ and your ‘life’ connected to it. Although the name implies the use of lasers, real lasers are generally not used except as aiming devices. The actual transmitting element of almost all laser tag gear is an infra-red Light Emitting Diode similar to those used in household remote controls. Laser tag is similar to paintball, airsoft and other simulation-shooting or targeting sports, but diverges in its reliance on a computerized control system. The computer system provides score tracking as well as enforcing some rules of engagement – such as an enforced period when a player is unable to shoot after being hit by another player, or discounting all friendly fire.

One for the album. I was Agent Wolf for that night!

The beauty of the game is that it’s suitable for kids as young as 7 years old! What better way to spend a good family time other than zapping each other at Galactic Laser!

Lights off, ready to play!

The arena is big enough for 30 people to chase, hide and shoot each other. But it’s all about strategy, those with a good strategy always wins!

Faces after the game, satisfied and all sweaty despite the venue being fully air-conditioned! That’s how intense the game is.

After each game, we had fun laughing at each other’s scores.

As a member, all my game scores were recorded and my “slow” progress can be seen at one swipe of the card.

We had one heck of a fun time with three rounds of game with one round lasting as long as 10 minutes. It was tiring but with lots of laughter and adrenaline rush, it’s time well spent.

One last group photo with the Galactic Laser guys. Thank you so much for the experience, VVIP treatment and fun games. We wish you all the best and one thing for sure is that i’ll be coming back and introduce this game to as many people as possible! Let’s spread the words

Galactic Laser can be found here:

T-012A, 3rd Floor, North Court, Mid Valley Megamall
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
E-mail: enquiry@galacticlaser.com
Telephone: 03-2283 2999

http://www.galacticlaser.com

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